On the nature and treatment of the deformities of the human frame : being a course of lectures delivered at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in 1843 ; with numerous notes and additions to the present time / by W.J. Little.

  • William Little
Date:
1853
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the nature and treatment of the deformities of the human frame : being a course of lectures delivered at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in 1843 ; with numerous notes and additions to the present time / by W.J. Little. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    LECTURE XVIII. Distortions of spinal column analogous to contractures in other parts of the frame—Spinal distortion from spasmodic and paralytic destruction of equilibrium of sjnnal muscles ; \_Spinal deformity from pleurisy;] from unequal length of the lower extremities'—Ordinary lateral cur- vature—Remote and proximate causes ; its nature and treatment— [Analysis of means of cure which have been recommended—Prevention of spinal curvature']—Inapplicability of tenotomy as a means of curing lateral curvature. In the last Lecture, I described, as completely as the time permitted, angular deformity of the spinal column, con- sisting of partial or complete ankylosis, being the condition of the spine analogous to angular deformity and ankylosis of a limb from inflammation, the result of scrofula or acci- dental injury. I also demonstrated the nature of rachitic angular or posterior deformity, in which, you remember, the column bends through want of firmness in its com- ponent parts, the bones, ligaments, and muscles. The numerous models on the table illustrated the combination of angular curvature from these causes, with a certain amount of lateral deviation, angularity predominating. I have in the next place to treat of those distortions of the spinal column, which in their nature correspond with contractures in other parts of the frame. Contractures are those distortions which result from the operation of causes which indirectly affect the articulations. You have witnessed contractures of every articulation of the extre- mities induced by destruction of equilibrium in the mus- cles, from spasm on the one hand, or paralysis on the other. We have studied the operation of burns, abscesses in the soft parts, gangrene, and ulceration, in the produc- tion of contractures ; and we can apply the information